| We at ProtoWest look forward
to the future of railroad modeling with much anticipation.
Your past patronage has been wonderful and we are deeply
grateful for the support of our loyal customers. We
believe we have the winning team that will prove to be the
source for the kinds of rolling stock that have little or
no chance of being produced by the more traditional
manufacturers. We seek out the odd, unusual and
unique with the intent of bringing back the prototypes
long forgotten. Our staff is fully capable of custom
building anything our customers may desire.
Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to
briefly introduce The ProtoWest Staff:
Robert Stears:
Bob's interest in railroading began in early
childhood with frequent weekend family trips exploring
Colorado ghost town, mining and railroad history.
After seeing the last days of the Narrow Gauge during a
trip to Alamosa, Chama and Durango in the mid '60's, he
began scratch building Colorado prototypes as a means of
experiencing the roads of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Bob has always sought the connection
between the models and the prototypes of the past and has
often said "we need to bring these prototypes back to life
through our models." Bob especially enjoys scratch
building models of seldom modeled early Colorado narrow
gauge equipment. He considers himself to be a
historian, researchers and model builder. He is
especially interested in the DSP&P, C&S, F&CC, Colorado &
Northwestern Colorado Midland and the D&RG. Although
Bob currently doesn't have a layout, a pike centered on
the Leadville area prior to the 1893 silver crash is
definitely in his future. Bob collects Sn3 and On3
brass models as well as a few HO scale models of the broad
gauge Colorado Midland, C&S and D&RGW. He also
collects photos and post cards of his favorite prototypes
and has a wonderful collection of Colorado railroad
passes. Bob's role with The Cimarron Works is what
might be loosely called general manager and accountant and
he plays an important role in kit production. As
cofounder, along with Bill Meredith in the spring of 2003,
The Cimarron Works would not exist without him. Bob
is kept additionally busy with his family of 5 and as a
Radiologist in Laramie, Wyoming.
William Meredith:
Bill has always been interested in trains and
especially model trains and had several train sets before
discovering and moving into Colorado Narrow Gauge at the
age of 12. This move was precipitated by an article
on an HOn3 layout in the February 1976 RMC. After
spending 8 years modeling the RGS and D&RGW Third Division
in HOn3, it was the PBL display that prompted a move to
Sn3. In 1988, the DSP&P bug hit and Bill has been
immersed in recreating the DSP&P in Sn3 ever since.
In 1995, Bill formed "South Park Finescale" and produced
several brass kits and RTR models of the DSP&P Mason Bogie
2-8-6 and Cooke 2-8-0 in Sn3 and the Mason 2-8-6 in On3.
Bill Meredith and Robert Stears formed The Cimarron Works
in the Spring of 2003 to address the lack of products and
general knowledge of the pre-depression era narrow gauge
in Colorado. Bill's roles at Cimarron include,
pattern and master maker, decal production, and product
management. When not working on new masters for
upcoming products, Bill spends much time custom building
locomotives for clients. Bill lives in Ottawa and is building the DSP&P in his
basement. Bill's day job is a Sales Engineer for a
software company that provides OSS solutions to Tier 1
carriers.
Derrell Poole:
Derrell was exposed to Model Railroading in his
early childhood when his brother received an HO train set
for his 5th birthday. In his early teens he became
interested in Narrow Gauge railroading under the
influences of Beebe & Clegg, Dow Helmers and Mac Poor.
History became a very important part of his hobby and as a
young man he became quite involved with the study of such
prototypes as the Colorado & Southern and Denver South
Park and Pacific. Derrell is the author of nearly 20
articles in various publications on the historical aspects
of these roads and has developed many plans on the rolling
stock. In the early '90's he operated "The C&S
Connection" to market his plans, original parts and Custom
Building Services. Like Bob and Bill he believes in
the connection between accurate model building and the
prototypes. His models have won numerous awards but
he has always maintained that the models are subordinate
to the experience of history. In the summer of 2006
Derrell joined The Cimarron Works as their Distribution
Manager. He is also involved with Kit Development.
He is currently building a layout of the C&S Trout Creek
Pass Route in his basement - over, through and under
Cimarron Works products. Derrell is a Cadd Operator
and 3D Simulator and animator by trade and is equally at
home building models on the bench or on the computer.
Doug Junda:
Doug has always been
interested in trains and, like most people, his first
experience was a American Flyer set at Christmas. His
first true interest in Model Railroading started by
modeling the Santa Fe in HO. At age 15 he joined a
model railroad club in New York and learned how to truly
build a model railroad. In the mid 70’s he became
interested in modeling Colorado Narrow Gauge after a
trip to that State and began building MDC, Kemtron and
Keystone engines in Hon3. Doug switch to 3/16 scale
narrow gauge in the late 70's after meeting a few Sn3
modeler at Harry's Depot in New York. Doug moved to
Colorado in the early 80's. He met Bill Meredith a
number of years ago thru the old DSPP mail group. Doug
models the C&S and has a strong interest in the Maine
two foot lines. Doug purchased the Design
Tech Models S Scale line from Doug Heitkamp, and
the O scale line from Foothill's Models, and started to
produce these kits again. Doug still lives in
Colorado with his wife and two kids and is employed in
the IT field. |